365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Stollen
Day 62: To be perfectly honest, I think one of the main reasons I enjoy the Yule season is because it gives me an excuse to bake even more than usual, letting me trot out the recipes for specialty breads and cookies that I don't make at any other time of year. A good example of this is stollen, a sweet breakfast loaf with German origins, with raisins, candied fruit and almond slivers studding each and every slice. It can be eaten plain or buttered (the dough is already butter-rich), and may be served warm or cold. It freezes well, so it can be made weeks in advance to give as presents to special friends. Years ago, I was on the receiving end annually, thanks to a neighbour who shared my sentiments on breads as gifts. She is no longer with us, though, and my recipe is different from hers. In fact, I follow the one in "Joy of Cooking" with two notable exceptions: I soak the raisins in brandy overnight (or longer), and I use loaf pans which increase the cooking time by 10 minutes (roughly). One final note: I hear people ask, "Why is it called 'stollen?' Is it Russian?" After asking a couple of individuals why they would make that supposition, I determined that they assumed it was named after Stalin. No, stollen is German, and specifically a Christmas bread. It is similar to the Russian Easter bread called kulich, but minus the saffron and not as labour-intensive. Spelling matters.
Labels:
baking,
Christmas bread,
stollen
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